Nicholaos
by BatFlyer
Summary: Nicholaos, a son of Zeus, has spent his entire life in Hades. When he escapes the underworld, Hades' fury may be the least of his worries
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Alecto hovered over the palace of Hades nervously, her grey wings beating furiously. The expression on her horrible face might have been one of concern. She let out a raspy sigh.

There was really nothing she could do at this point but tell him. They had searched the entirety of the underworld, and the boy was nowhere to be found. He had, it seemed, escaped somehow.

So, she reluctantly flew down into Hades' thrown room, where the god himself was receiving a message from Hermes. She caught the end of whatever conversation they were having.

"And so both Zeus and Poseidon have released their children to attend the camp. They wonder if you might consider doing the same." Hermes finished.

"Hmm. And what would be the benefit of that?" Hades wondered aloud. "He receives all of the training he could possibly need here. The warriors of the dead have seen to that."

"Yes, but if he remains down here, he'll never have to chance to make any friends. To prove himself." Hermes replied.

"To become a hero? Well, I think we both know what I think of heroes." Hades responded acidly.

"Then you will not release the boy?" Hermes asked hopelessly.

"I don't think so, unless my brothers can come up with a better reason than so he can 'make friends'." Hades said with some finality.

"Very well, I will leave you now." Hermes said, and in a flash of gold he was gone. Hades seemed to notice Alecto standing there for the first time and looked at her with a bored expression.

"Yes, Alecto?"

"Uh, my lord," she began, "the boy…"

"Yes?"

"He's escaped, my lord. It seems he has escaped."

"Escaped?" Hades' voice had a dangerous edge to it. "And where exactly were you and your sisters when this happened?"

She flinched at that. It was, after all, the specific duty of the furies to watch after the boy. Although they hated the job, they had always taken it seriously.

"We," she began uneasily, "thought he was asleep. We never saw him leave his room."

Hades began drumming his fingers on his thrown thoughtfully. Alecto couldn't help but feel relieved. If he was going to strike her down or sentence her to the tortures of Tartarus, surely he would have done so already. Finally the god spoke.

"I doubt the boy managed to slip past you with any skills of his own." Hades said. "He was always rather useless, taking after his father in that respect. So, that only provides us with one explanation."

"What is that, my lord?" Alecto asked, obviously not understanding what Hades thought was so obvious.

"He had help." Hades said simply. "From my brothers, perhaps, or any of the others on Olympus."

"But, how could they help him here, in your realm, my lord?"

"I don't know. But I intend to find out." Hades said dangerously, and with that he disappeared in much the same way as Hermes had.


	2. Daughter of Legends

**I'm getting into Rick Riordan's characters now, so I should probably note that I'm not him. After the incredibly short prologue, I present to you the first chapter. I plan on using multiple viewpoints to tell the story. The next chapter will entirely by from Nicholaos' point of view.**

Amber Jackson had been practicing for three hours straight, and she was exhausted. She slumped down in the shade of a tree opened a book. Everyone told her she spent way too much time in the practice arena, but she didn't think so. If she was going to be ready for her quest, she really needed to stay in top form.

And she _was_ going to get a quest. This was her third summer at Camp Half-Blood, and she was really tired of sitting around, not living up to the family name. Her parents, especially her father, were well-known for their heroic feats during their time at Camp Half-Blood. It seemed like everyone was looking at her, wondering when she'd show some signs of greatness. Something that would indicate she was indeed the daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson, the legends.

William, her older brother by two years, had already been on _his_ great quest. Last year he was sent on a quest to retrieve the Stone of Olympus, the stone that Kronos had been tricked by Rhea into eating instead of Zeus. It had been stolen from its place of honor in the Olympus trophy room, by a rogue group of demigods. Why they had stolen the stone remained a mystery, but they were assisted by several monsters, so they were obviously working for someone.

But, they had refused to say anything incriminating, and were sent to Tartarus to see if that would loosen their tongues. It was odd that they would steal the stone in the first place. As far as anyone knew, it didn't really have any magical qualities to it. And yet, they had gone through so much trouble to make their getaway with the stone.

However, Amber hadn't really thought about it much. William had returned to a hero's welcome, and had managed to become the talk of camp for something else besides being the son of two famous demigods. She didn't like to admit it, but she was more than a little jealous. It wasn't that she didn't feel happy for him. He was her brother after all. It was just now she had three shadows to stand in.

She threw her book down in frustration. The frustrations tumbling around in her head made reading absolutely impossible right now. Getting up, she began making her way to the seashore when she saw Adrianna and Matthaios making their way to the big house.

The two of them were what the campers always called the "Peace Children". Apparently, around the Amber had been born, the big three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been arguing, as they usually did. Only this time, it had gotten serious. A son of Zeus had been assassinated, and he immediately suspected his brothers.

Of course, Poseidon and Hades were offended by the accusation, and immediately accused the other. This had almost led to a war between the three, but Athena had come up with an idea sufficient enough to please the three of them. As a peace offering, each of the three would give up their most powerful child to one of the others, and war would be averted. Zeus' son had gone to Hades, Adrianna (the daughter of Hades) had gone to Poseidon's kingdom, and Matthaios (the son of Poseidon) had gone to Olympus.

Amber's first year at Camp Half-Blood, the two of them had been allowed by Zeus and Poseidon to attend the camp. Everyone treated the two of them with immense respect, and generally tended to avoid them. It was no secret that they were incredibly powerful, and most people were intimidated. But, Amber had grown up in a house with a child of the big three as a father, and she didn't become intimidated too easily. She had made fast friends with them, bonding over the fact that everyone seemed to have overblown expectations of them.

"Hey guys," She called, "what's up?"

They both smiled as they turned around to look at her. Most girls at the camp thought he was incredibly cute, but he was technically her uncle, so she had never looked at him that way. He looked similar to her father, with his sea green eyes (which matched her own as well) and jet black hair. He was tall, but not as tall as Adrianna.

Adrianna had long dark hair and dark eyes. She could be pretty when she wanted to be, but as most the boys were intimidated by her, she really never had any need.

Amber herself had honey blond hair and stood about as tall as Matthaios. People constantly told her she looked exactly like her mother, which she guessed was a good thing.

"Just heading to the big house," Adrianna said. "Bernie just told us that we've been summoned."

"Really? Is something happening?"

"Hopefully. This summer was getting pretty boring," Matthaios smiled again. Like her, the two of them were waiting for a quest. For their moment to prove themselves. Something else they had bonded over.

"Well, I'll come, too," Amber said happily, starting toward the big house. If there was something going on, she did _not _want to miss out.

"Uh, I'm not sure if you can," Adrianna said, unsure.

"Whatever. If they want to stop me, they can," Adrianna motioned for the two to follow him. They rolled their eyes and then joined her. The big house was surprisingly empty, except for Amber's parents and Chiron, and of course, Mr. D.

Oh, Amber thought happily, this has to be big.

"Greetings," Chiron said cheerfully, looking at Amber curiously.

Mr. D. yawned. "I don't recall summoning _you_, Amanda Jergunson," He said lazily.

"Perhaps she shouldn't hear what we're about to discuss?" Chiron said, looking questioningly at her parents.

"Oh, I think she can handle it," Her dad said, looking at her mom with a smile. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Very well," Chiron said. "Now, as we're all aware, the big three traded their most powerful children in order to avoid a war. Matthaios, Adrianna, you are two of those children. But there was one other. Nicholaos, the son of Zeus, has been living in Hades for the past 13 years. However, three days ago, he escaped."

Amber gasped. This _was_ big.

Chiron continued: "Hades was furious, as he thinks the only way Nicholaos possibly could have escaped was through the help of Zeus. Zeus has denied any assistance on his part, so Hades gave him an ultimatum. Return the boy in a week, or prepare for war."

"Why is Hades making such a big deal about this?" Adrianna asked, clearly annoyed. "Matthaios and I were allowed to leave our homes and come to camp years ago."

"Yes, but you didn't live in the underworld," Chiron said. "Nicholaos has consumed the food of Hades. Ancient laws, made by Hades himself, proclaim that he is to remain in the underworld forever."

"Okay, so why don't the gods just get Nicholaos and send him back?" Amber asked.

"This is a little out of their jurisdiction," Matthaios offered.

"Indeed. The gods are much to busy to worry about rounding up some brat," Dionysus chimed in.

"So, what we need," Chiron began, "is for you two to go find Nicholaos and bring him back here. Perhaps we can persuade him into going back."

Amber noticed he had only said "you two". "I want to go," She said, more to her parents than to Chiron or Mr. D.

"These are children of Poseidon and Hades. I don't think your help will be necessary, Johansson," Mr. D. said rudely.

She looked at her parents pleadingly. Her mother was the one to cave in. "She could use the experience." Amber could have run and hugged her mother right there, but she decided to keep her composure.

Chiron smiled. "Very well."

"Which one of us needs to visit the oracle?" Adrianna asked hopefully.

"Well, this isn't exactly an official quest," Chiron said. "So a prophecy won't really be necessary."

"Then how do we find him?" Matthaios asked unsurely.

In answer, Chiron walked over to the window, where light was shining in, creating a rainbow. He threw a golden Drachma into the rainbow, and an image of a news report appeared.

"Scientists are baffled by the strange weather occurrences here in Black Hills National Forrest. The weather has been behaving erratically, raining one minute and sunny the next." The reported said, clearly baffled herself.


	3. Son of Zeus

**So, sorry it took so long with this update. I had two other writing assignments to do, so I did this at the same time. I hope to do the next update much more quickly.**

The first thing Nicholaos noticed when he came out of the tunnel was the sunlight. It warmed his skin in a way he'd never felt before. Indeed, this was the first time he'd ever even seen sunlight. Next, he noticed he was in the middle of a forest. It reminded him of Persephone, and he wondered if she might be around here somewhere.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a rough growl. He was surrounded: three serpent things with white skin and blue eyes, and a huge red boar. However, if battle training had taught him anything, it was to expect to be outnumbered. Dodging quickly past the serpents, he ran at the boar and stabbed it right between the eyes. He didn't even see it disintegrate into a cloud of dust as he spun around and faced the serpents.

They held their distance, obviously shaken by his display of skill. He charged at them full force and they, seemingly having collected their senses, attacked him as one. His sword passed its way through the necks of two of the creatures, but the third dodged and knocked his feet out from under him with its tail.

He landed hard on the ground, and the serpent quickly used its tail once more to nock the sword out of his hand, sending it scraping away along the dirt. Now facing an unarmed opponent, the serpent confidently skulked toward him. Even before he felt the tugging sensation in his stomach, he didn't have the slightest fear that this creature would kill him. He had seen far worse.

The tugging sensation was getting stronger, so he decided to go with it. Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt came out of the sky and struck the serpent mid-skulk, and its surprised face turned to dust, along with the rest of it.

Nicholaos stood slowly and walked to retrieve his sword. The sun shining on the hilt made the lightning bolt insignia stand out. He had had this sword for as long as he could remember: a gift from Zeus.

What he had just done began finally registering in his brain. He had produced a bolt of lightning out of nowhere. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky. Well, he supposed. Being a son of Zeus had its advantages.

It had been a long time since he had thought of himself as a son of Zeus. When he was young he used to pray to Zeus, asking for him to please come down to the underworld and save him from his misery. But, he eventually realized that Zeus just wasn't going to come.

He set up a rough camp in a clearing nearby, something he had become quite experienced at down in Hades. Many times he had run away from the palace and camped out along the river Styx, considering just jumping in and letting the river consume him.

Of course, he would never actually do it, but it was nice to know that there was an escape from Hades' cruelty.

More monsters came the next day. He didn't even bother picking up his sword, opting rather to use his newfound powers to strike down anything that came near. Soon, he realized that he had moderate control of the weather. With little effort, he could produce the most amazing storms in the sky, and then make them disappear just as quickly.

He packed up camp later that day, and decided it was time to look for civilization. He hiked through the forest for a while before stopping dead in his tracks. That familiar chill, the one he had felt so many times in the underworld, was running down his spine right now.

"Well, look who it is," that voice, the one he hated so much, rang out through the forest. "Oh, how I hoped I'd be the one to find you."

Alecto landed roughly right in front him, creating long trenches with her clawed feet. Her stare had been enough to make him cower in fear when he was eight, but the one she gave him now didn't do anything for him. He stared right back, looking into her grey eyes, and for any passerby it would have been impossible to tell whose eyes were filled with more hatred.

"Lord Hades will be so pleased when I bring you back," A smile was stretching its way across Alecto's face.

"Over my dead body," Nicholaos said simply, unsheathing his sword.

"Well," Alecto replied thoughtfully, "you'll be going back either way, I suppose."

She jumped at him, but he rolled out of the way, the ground where he had been standing crumbling under the force of her landing. He stabbed at her side, but she took off to the sky, above the trees. He looked up, feeling that familiar tug in his gut. He concentrated on it, and heard a loud screech from above.

Alecto came crashing through the trees, smoking slightly. She seemed to regain her senses, the initial shock of being struck by lightning slowly dissipating, and managed to take flight again mid-fall. But she was still a little disoriented, and crashed head-first into a tree, falling to the ground in a crushed heap.

She flapped her wings weakly, but did not take flight. Nicholaos cautiously approached her, taking care to avoid the wings, until he was looking down at her face.

"You little snot," she spat at him, "how dare you! I will have your-"

"Shut up," he interrupted coolly.

She scowled at him. "I swear to you," she shrieked, "you'll never get away with this. Lord Hades is going to send so many monsters at you, you're going to-"

Once again he interrupted her, this time with a sword to her throat. "Tell 'Lord Hades' that I'll be waiting." With that, he stabbed her right in the head. She exploded in a cloud of dust.

Nicholaos looked up to the sky, feeling for once in his life, truly satisfied.

* * *

Adrianna didn't like the touristy clothes she was wearing right now. She would much have preferred a nice set of battle armor. Not that that would be necessary right now, since they were after some half-blood, rather than some monster. But still, she hated it when she was forced to wear street clothes. Something about them just felt unnatural. She had been in the army of Poseidon ever since she could pick up a sword, and she had grown accustomed to the feel.

They had been driven here in the Camp Half-Blood van, because flying was too dangerous for Matthaios. They had been given these outfits from the Jacksons. The three were wearing clothes with the Columbia University logo splashed all over them, although they all looked much too young to be college students.

The three of them were walking down one of the many paths in Black Hills National Forest, still not quite sure how to find this "Nicholaos" kid. At first they had thought it would be simple. Just look for wherever the strange weather is. But the weather hadn't really been acting up today. Finally, Amber suggested that they get off the path and explore the forest.

Adrianna was always quite amazed by the beauty of nature that could be found on dry land. Nothing but seaweed and fish on the bottom of the sea, and she had grown quite tired of the scenery of Poseidon's kingdom. The day she had been allowed to leave and attend Camp Half-Blood had been like a breath of fresh air.

After hiking a way in the forest, they all felt a strange feeling. It seemed like there was a lot of static electricity in the air, to the point where it felt like walking through a fog of static. They looked around in all directions, but didn't see anything.

"He's here. Can you feel him?" Amber asked

"How do you know that's him we're feeling?" Adrianna asked, clutching her sword.

"Nicholaos!" Amber called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Who's there?" a voice called through the trees. The figure of a boy appeared through the trees. He had incredibly long jet black hair, sitting in the trees above them. He was tall, maybe even taller than her, with pale skin and eyes that were slightly sunken in.

"Are you Nichalaos?" Amber asked him.

He regarded her for a second, his expression unreadable. "Who are you?" His eyes went from her to Matthaios, and to Adrianna. When his eyes landed on her, they filled with alarm. Before she even had time to register what had happened, he had sprung into action, knocking her to her feet with his blade at her throat.

"Hey," Matthaios cried out, "let her go. We're friends."

"'Friends'" Nichalaos scoffed. "Allies of Hades are no friends of mine.

"We weren't sent by Hades," Amber said matter-of-factly.

"You're lying," Nicholaos said, looking down at Amber. "I would recognize those eyes anywhere."

Adrianna looked up at Nicholaos with her black eyes, hoping that Amber came up with one of her infamous plans before she met her father the hard way.


	4. Clash of the DemiGods

**My apologies for the long wait, but I've been bombarded by finals. But, only one more week of those, then I should be posting on a weekly basis. To those that have reviewed, I say thanks, and I welcome more reviews. The story really starts to get going in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it, dear readers.**

"I said let her go!" Matthaios said again, his voice quivering slightly. He produced the pocket knife from his back pocket, which became a sword at his mental command. A gift from Ares, god of war, Amber knew. He took a step forward, and he and Nicholaos locked eyes, staring each other down, daring one another to make a move

Suddenly, Nicholoas seemed to pick up on something, his face softening a tad, and he released Adrianna. She gasped, letting out the breath she had been holding, and clutched her throat where his sword had been. Matthaios ran to her side.

"You okay?" He asked, looking her up and down.

"Yeah I think so," She said, accepting his help and getting uneasily up to her feet. The two of them seemed to remember that Nicholaos and Amber were there, and they both blushed.

"Who are you?" Nicholaos asked, casting each of them one more suspicious glance.

"We're demigods, like you." Amber told him, glad to finally be getting somewhere.

Nicholaos scoffed. "I somehow doubt that." He re-sheathed his sword in the holder that was slung on his back. "How do you know my name?"

"We know more than that," Matthaios said, looking at Nicholaos just as suspiciously. "We know that you just escaped from the underworld."

A smile spread across Nicholaos' face. "Well that's disappointing. I was hoping old dead head wouldn't realize I was gone. At least not for another month. But, that doesn't answer my question."

"We were sent here, from Camp Half-Blood." Amber said.

"What's 'Camp Half-Blood,'" Nicholaos asked.

"It's a special place for people like us." Amber explained. "For children of the gods."

Nicholaos' face suddenly hardened, the smile disappearing. "So, you were sent here by the gods?"

"Well, not directly, but on their behalf, yes." Amber admitted.

Nicholaos' considered the three of them once more, and then turned on his heel and began walking away.

"Wait," Amber called, running after him. "Where are you going?"

Nicholaos stopped and turned to face her. "I'm getting out of here. Hades' furies already know where I am. The farther away I can get from here, the better."

"They can't get you at Camp Half-Blood," Adrianna said, running up beside Amber. "No monsters can enter Camp Half-Blood."

Nicholaos looked at her as if she were a moron. "I don't know if you've ever met the furies, but they're not your garden variety monsters. They work for Hades, so I don't think a camp run by the gods is the best hiding place. But I don't have to tell _you_ about "lord" Hades, do I?"

Amber's looked at him angrily, understanding the insinuation. "Actually, I've never met my father." She said, looking down at her feet.

"Really?" Nicholaos asked incredulously. "Well, then count yourself lucky."

He began to walk away again, but Matthaios stepped forward. "Are you honestly planning on going out in public in those clothes?"

Nicholaos stopped, and Amber looked at what he was wearing. Strange black robes, which she assumed where his customary clothing down in the underworld. She hadn't noticed before.

"You're coming with us," Matthaios said with finality.

Nicholaos turned around slowly, a faint look of amusement on his face. "No. I have no interes t in visiting this "god" camp. So, unless you plan on making me, step back, boy."

Matthaios was smiling now. "I'll tell you what. You and me, one on one. If I win, you come back to Camp Half-Blood with us."

"And what do I get when you lose?" Nicholaos asked coolly.

"We leave and say we never found you."

"Well," Nicholaos began with a smirk, "I guess I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you if asked for more than that."

Nicholaos pulled out his sword, and gave it a few practice swings in the air, loosening his muscles. He took a battle stance and looked at Matthaios, who hadn't bothered practicing.

"You ready?" Nicholaos asked.

Matthaios had no sooner nodded than they were both running at each other, and their blades collided loudly.

_

* * *

__You idiot_, Adrianna thought to herself, watching the fight with annoyance. _Couldn't you have picked a better time to try and be macho_?

He always jumped right into things, fighting first and thinking about it later. What if Nicholaos beat him? Not that that would happen, considering the two seemed to be pretty much evenly matched, and Matthaios had yet to lose a duel with anyone at Camp Half-Blood. Still, it was the principal of the thing.

Matthaios had better just count himself lucky that Nicholaos had spent the last three years in the underworld instead of training at Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

As soon as their blades met, Matthaios realized that maybe, just maybe, he'd bitten off more than he could chew. It took all his strength each time their blades collided just to counter Nicholaos' moves. It wasn't long before he was on the defense and the fight was growing more heated.

Nicholaos' thrusts became more and more rapid, until Matthaios was dripping sweat from the effort of not only keeping up, but repelling each strike. Matthaios had been trained in combat from a very young age by Ares, and the god of war had been the only one that could ever beat him.

And yet, somehow Nicholaos had the upper hand. _Where did you learn to fight like this_? Matthaios thought desperately. A little more of this and he was going to…

His sword flew from his hand as Nicholaos disarmed him, putting the blade of his sword to Matthaios' throat. Matthaios raised his hands in defeat. Nicholaos smiled triumphantly at each of the girls, and then turned his eyes back to Matthaios.

"What was that, tough guy?" Nicholaos asked.

Matthaios couldn't form words at the moment, so he merely scowled at Nicholaos, making Nicholaos' smile grow even bigger.

Nicholaos removed his sword from Matthaios' throat after a moment and put it back in its sheath.

"Well, I guess you guys had better get going," Nicholaos said, and then began walking away. Adrianna immediately pounced on Matthaios.

"Great going, dolphin brain," She gave him an "I can't believe you" look and then turned to Amber. "What now?"

Matthaios walked dejectedly over to his sword and slowly bent down to pick it up. He made it turn back into a pocket knife and put it in its holder. He still could not _believe_ he'd just lost.

"I don't know," Amber said thoughtfully. "I guess we could go after him and try convincing him some more."

Before either of the other two could answer, a loud roar cut through the air. It came from the direction that Nicholaos had wandered in.

* * *

As the three hell-hounds galloped toward him, Nicholaos attempted to bring down a lightning bolt at them, but for some reason he couldn't.

_Come on_, he thought desperately, concentrating on his stomach muscles. But nothing was happening. _Well, this is bad_.

He rolled out of the way of the first one, and it crashed into the tree behind him, getting stuck by its tusks. As it struggled to free itself, the second one ran at Nicholaos. He dropped to the round and stuck the beast in its stomach. With a choked yelp, the hell-hound exploded into dust.

Nicholaos turned quickly to the third, but it was right on him. He would have surely been smashed, had the earth not opened up right in front of him at that exact moment. The hell-hound yelped in horror as it fell into the pit, swallowed by the earth. Nicholaos turned to see the three people he'd just left running toward him.

"I assume the daughter of Hades did _that_." He said, looking at the huge crack in the ground where the pit had been. Adrianna nodded. "Thanks."

She blushed, but everyone's attention was immediately turned to the remaining hell-hound as it pried its tusks free from the tree. It grunted and began pawing the group, preparing to charge at them. They all jumped aside as it ran it them.

After a moment of disorientation, it decided to go after Adrianna, who had gotten her foot stuck in a tree root. She looked up at blankly, and it suddenly stopped, observing her cautiously.

Adrianna freed her foot, and then got to her feet, slowly walking toward it. It didn't move, but instead kept its eyes on here. Suddenly, it sank low, in some kind of bow. Adrianna stopped, taken aback, and looked at it intently. Finally, she understood.

"Leave!" She commanded shrilly. "Go back to Hades."

The creature begrudgingly did as it was told, beginning in a gallop and disappearing into the shadows, but not before looking hungrily at Nicholaos.

"Well," Adrianna said, collecting herself. "I think you owe me one, now."

Nicholaos gave her a forced smile, and sighed. "I guess you expect me to go with you to this camp now?"

"Well, I did just save your sorry butt," Adrianna said, shrugging.

Nicholaos sighed again theatrically. "I guess this camp can't be worse than where I would gone."

_

* * *

_

You are so awesome, Ares thought to himself, looking at himself in the rearview mirror of his motorcycle. He was dressed in his usual attire, the biker outfit with the sunglasses. His motorcycle was roaring loudly as he sped toward Waterland, his and Aphrodite's usual meeting spot.

Suddenly, he found that he flying through the air, having somehow flown out of his bike. He hit the grand roughly and slid across the road, tearing up the road as he slid. He got up to his feet and looked around for his bike.

It was in two scattered pieces, and there was some guy standing in the road. Whoever he was, he was dressed in shiny silver armor that covered his entire body, including his face. In his hand, he held a matching silver sword.

Ares got angrily to his feet. "I don't know who you think you are, punk," Ares growled, "but nobody cuts the god of war's motorcycle in half."

He felt that the appropriate punishment would be to turn this loser into a scorpion. But when he used his magic, nothing happened, except the guy's armor glowed red. Suddenly, the silver dude shot a beam of red energy out of his sword, catching Ares square in the chest. He flew backwards, clutching his chest in genuine pain.

He got groggily to his feet. Alright, looks like he'd have to play hardball with this guy. At his command, several trees in the surrounding area ripped out of the ground and flew toward him. He shot fire and singed the tips of the Trees to sharpened points, and launched them like spears toward the silver guy.

The silver guy lazily swung his sword and the trees exploded in the air. Ares' jaw dropped. _Who the heck is this guy_? He thought, feeling for the first time in his life a sense of fear. He collected himself roughly.

_You are the God of War_, He told himself. _And you will fight like a God of War_.

Ares removed the pocket knife from his pocket, and turned it into a huge battle axe, glowing flame-red.

"Alright, tough guy. Let's go!" He called as he ran at the silver guy. The silver dude strode toward Ares and lifted his sword. When their blades connected, Ares' axe was cut in half. He looked dumbly at the now useless item in his hand, and then turned back toward the silver dude.

The silver guy stabbed him in the shoulder, and Ares felt a burning pain. He screamed as the sword went deeper and deeper, finally coming out the other side. He squinted up at the silver guy, getting one last look as he slowly lost consciousness.


End file.
